“What do you mean we’re driving up to the hospital?” Dana demanded. “I can’t believe you want me to face her. Mac, she was going to kill me!”
Mac leaned back against the mantel in the family room with his hands jammed in his pockets. The moment he walked into the house, he suggested Dana get dressed because they were driving up to the hospital.
“Think of it as closure,” he suggested. “The only meeting you two had was a highly charged one. Maybe if you sit down and try to talk, you might find a way to help her cope.”
Dana perked up. “Help her?”
He nodded. “I talked to the doctor about an hour ago. She’s insisting she’s Dana. I think if she faces you, she’ll realize that you aren’t going away and have an easier time of coming to terms with who she really is.”
She settled on the couch, curling her legs up under her. “I’m sorry, Mac, but I honestly don’t want to see her again,” she said softly. “Please don’t ask me.”
“This needs to be done, Dana,” Mac said firmly. “If it’s done now, you won’t have to see her again if you don’t want to.”
“You think I should do this just so I can get on with my life? Darling, I can get on with it very nicely,” she told him.
“I’m asking you, Dana. For our future.”
She looked at him sharply.
She rose to her feet. “Give me half an hour.”
Darcy hadn’t believed it could be so easy to fool everyone. Mac believed she was Dana; her milksop of a mother believed she was Dana; even that eagle-eyed housekeeper believed she was Dana. She didn’t trust the latter. Harriet was old enough to be pensioned off.
She decided this visit might not be so bad. It was going to be so delicious when baby sister saw her walk in with Mac. It would be even more delicious that she would be leaving with him while baby sister stayed behind.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she said to Mac, taking his arm as they entered the hospital. “You’re going to tell me that this will be good for me and I’ll thank you afterward.”
“This is good for you,” he admitted, as he approached the front desk. He gave their names and asked for Dr. Fredericks.
She looked around the waiting room. Still all those drab colors they called soothing. Just being here left a nasty itch between her shoulder blades. She was going to be a great deal happier when she left. Especially since she’d never be back.
“Ms. Madison. Mr. McKenna. I’m Dr. Fredericks.” A silver-haired man walked toward them. He looked a little taken aback when he saw Darcy.
“How is Darcy doing?” Mac asked.
“She’s still very upset. It would have been better if you had given her some time to settle back in.” He looked from one to the other. “I am still protesting this meeting. It’s still too soon for her to face what she’s done.”
“Some things can’t wait,” Mac said, refusing to back down.
The doctor frowned, clearly not appreciating Mac’s insistence.
Darcy thought this might be a good time to intervene. “Dr. Fredericks, I wasn’t so sure this would be good for me, either,” she spoke up. “But after listening to Mac and my thinking about it, I understood I needed to come up here. I’d like the chance to talk to Darcy. I want her to know that I don’t hate her for what she tried to do.” She flashed a warm smile as she placed her hand on the doctor’s arm. “Wouldn’t my telling her I forgive her help her in some way? And is it possible to see her privately? I would think if she saw you or one of the orderlies, it would only make things worse. Mac will be with me, so I’m not afraid.”
The doctor hesitated. “It might, but then again it might not.” He looked over at an orderly. “Thomas, would you take them to room three, then escort Darcy Madison there? You won’t need to stay inside with them, but I would appreciate your waiting outside the door until their visit is over.” He looked at them. “You can have me paged when you’re finished.”
After the orderly left them in the room, Darcy walked around touching the back of a chair and running her fingertips across the top of a table.
“How depressing,” she commented. “You’d think they could do better considering the amount of money people pay to keep their relatives hidden away from the world.”
Mac was too busy watching the door. “No matter what you do to dress up the place, it’s still a hospital.”
Darcy turned when the door opened.
My my, she’d been here barely a day and she already looked terrible. Maybe Mac’s idea wasn’t such a bad one, after all. She would have the chance to see baby sister pulled down into the dark pit of despair where she belonged.
Dana felt as if she were living in a nightmare. Even more frightening was the fear this was one bad dream she’d never awaken from. Her mouth felt cottony from the sedative the doctor had given her and her head felt unusually heavy.
The orderly was impersonal as he directed her into a room. Then she saw the occupants.
Darcy had won, after all. She stood there wearing Dana’s clothes, her hand on Dana’s man’s shoulder, a smile of triumph on her lips.
“Darcy.” She walked forward with her arms outstretched.
Dana automatically stepped back. She didn’t want the woman to touch her.
The real Darcy showed the appropriate signs of sorrow for the open rejection.
“Please don’t hate me any longer. I’m not angry with what you did,” she insisted. “I came here to tell you I’m coming to understand why you did it. Even our mother understands and still loves you.”
“Moms?” she whispered, aching to see her mother. Afraid of what would happen to her with Darcy now in charge.
Dana watched Darcy walk over to Mac and stand behind him with one hand resting on his shoulder in a possessive gesture.
“We will do whatever is necessary to help you get better,” she said. “No matter how long it takes.”
Dana looked from Darcy to Mac. He had to see the difference!
“Dana,” Mac murmured.
“No, sweetheart, she needs to understand that there are consequences to her actions.” Darcy caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers. “And unfortunately, that means she has to stay here. I just want Darcy to understand she needs to do whatever the doctor says. In time, I’m sure, she’ll be much better.”
Dana’s gaze shifted toward Mac. Could he read her feelings in her eyes? She wanted to scream at him that Darcy had tricked them both. She would have done so—if she weren’t afraid the orderly would quickly appear with a nurse and, worse, another one of those hypodermics.
He stared back with the stony gaze she remembered from their first meetings. His gaze rested briefly on the faint bruise coloring her jaw. He gave no indication of his thoughts.
“Dana,” he repeated. “Is there a reason why you didn’t do something drastic when the cops were hauling you off? Were you so eager for a rest, you had to settle for here?” He waved one hand off to the side to indicate the room, which was as depressing as the reception area.
Darcy turned to him. “What are you saying?”
His jaw worked furiously. “I’m saying your little game is over.” He clamped his hand around her wrist. “Thomas.” He raised his voice. “Would you and the good doctor come in here, please?”
Dana blindly reached for a chair and sat down.
“What is going on?”
“That’s what I would like to know.” Darcy was furious. There was no way they could know what she did.
The door opened, and Dr. Fredericks, the orderly and an unfamiliar woman entered the room.
“Dr. Moore?” Dana’s eyes filled with tears.
Abby looked at Dana, then at Darcy. “Identical twins tend to make things difficult. I’d say one telling difference here is that this Dana—” she gestured toward Dana “—greeted me by name.” She studied Darcy. “It must be galling to have failed.”
Darcy’s eyes flashed fire. “I beg your pardon?”
“Dr. Fredericks,
Darcy Madison managed to fool us long enough so that Dana, whom she’d knocked unconscious, was brought here in Darcy’s place,” Mac explained.
Dr. Fredericks puffed up. “That’s impossible. I want you to leave immediately before I call the police.”
“No need. I called them before we came up here.” Mac glared at the psychiatrist. “I did some checking about you, Fredericks. You charge high prices for nominal care. You’re happier with your patients drugged to the gills because then you don’t have to deal with them. You take the money, but you don’t do anything for them. The money went into your pockets instead of into treatment for the patients. Sounds to me like you flunked your ethics class.”
The man’s face turned a deep shade of red. “Get out of here.”
Mac looked past him. Two police officers stood in the doorway.
“You know the best thing about once having been a cop?” he said in a low voice. “You know who to call. You’re out of business, Fredericks. As of now.”
The doctor’s mouth opened and closed like that of a fish, as the officers approached him. One began reading him his rights.
Mac turned to Darcy. “Your game is over.”
“You son of a bitch,” she snarled, lashing out at him with her nails. He manacled her other hand with his fingers.
“Hello, Darcy, I’m Dr. Moore. I came here because Mac asked me to give you some very much needed help. Your mother has set up the paperwork to sign you out of here and transfer you elsewhere. I’ve arranged for you to be transferred to another hospital immediately.” Abby spoke in her soothing voice.
“You can’t do this!” Dr. Fredericks shouted even as he was being led away in handcuffs.
Abby shook her head. She looked over her shoulder and gestured. A man wearing a navy polo shirt and khaki pants came over to her.
“Darcy, this is Kevin. He’ll be going with us.”
“You can’t do this,” Darcy argued, pulling at Mac’s grip.
Kevin took hold of her arm, and with just the right amount of gentle persuasion, managed to lead her out of the room. Her screams and curses lingered in the air.
Abby smiled at Dana, who looked dazed by the entire proceedings.
“Mac called me and told me what had happened,” she told her. “I want to see you in my office tomorrow. We’ll talk. The nice thing about the hospital receiving the wrong patient is that there are minimal problems getting you out.”
Dana pressed her fingers against her lips. Mac crouched down beside her and replaced her fingers with his own.
“Hey, did you honestly think I wouldn’t figure it out?” he said quietly. “I’m just sorry I didn’t pick up on it right away. If it will make you feel better, Duffy growled and lunged at her right away.”
Dana cried out Mac’s name and launched herself into his arms. She clutched him so tightly, he soon begged the chance to breathe. It didn’t stop her from repeatedly touching his face with her fingertips as if she couldn’t believe he was real.
“What about the other patients here?” she asked Abby.
“Dr. Fredericks was the only one at fault. The problem is, he owns the hospital. The authorities will watch over the rest of the staff, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the families will need to find a new facility.”
Dana looked at Mac. “I want to go home,” she whispered.
Mac glanced at Abby. She walked over, examined Dana’s eyes, took her pulse and asked her a few questions.
“I’m sure home’s the best place for her.”
Dana gripped Mac’s hand as they left the building. When she was settled in his Explorer, she burst into tears.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” she sobbed. “I was so afraid I’d never get out of there.”
“Honey, I’m sorry.” He gripped her hand tightly. “I should have known it right away. When I saw one of you knocked out, I thought you’d gotten in another lucky punch.”
Dana started to laugh but it soon turned back into sobs. Mac unbuckled their seat belts and drew her over onto his lap. He whispered words of love and assurance as he threaded his fingers through her hair. He dropped kisses all over her face as he reacquainted himself with her skin and warmed her with his body heat. And he pressed her face against his shoulder as she cried.
“I almost lost you,” he muttered roughly, drawing back enough so he could mop up her tears with hands that turned gentle as he touched her. “I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened.”
“I couldn’t make them believe me,” she sobbed. “They wouldn’t listen to me.”
He pushed her hair away from her face, framing her face with his hands. The idea he could have lost her ate at him like acid.
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I’m here and you’re safe.”
She shook her head. “I should have told you how much I loved you.”
“I should have believed you in the beginning. I should have known.” He couldn’t stop touching her. He had to know she was real. “But it’s over now. And I’m not letting you go again. Maybe my old man couldn’t make a marriage work and maybe I couldn’t before, but I’m going to make us work. Do you hear me?” He shook her gently. “We’re getting married.”
Her laughter mixed with her tears. “If that’s a proposal, I accept.”
“Good thing, because I wasn’t going to accept anything else for an answer.”
Epilogue
Two months later
“I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Mac frowned as they parked in the hospital parking lot. He still had nightmares about the day he had managed to switch sisters and rescue Dana. And he knew she still had nightmares about that time because he would wake up alone and find her in the family room. She would be sitting on the couch rocking back and forth, while Duffy whined and tried to comfort her in his lumbering doggie way.
They married as soon as possible because they wanted immediately to begin their new lives. Dana restructured her company so she could delegate more work and took a leave of absence so she could spend more time with her mother. Thanks to the extra attention and a reason to recover, Alice was doing well with her rehabilitation therapy.
Alice still couldn’t say her other daughter’s name without bursting into tears. Abby suggested to Dana that she hold off for some time until Alice was stronger physically and mentally before attempting to find out more about her twin.
Dana had tried to think about Darcy and what had happened. Then that morning she received a phone call from Abby. Abby asked Dana to come see Darcy.
Mac argued against it, but Dana dug her heels in. He finally gave in, but he insisted she not be left alone with her sister. Dana explained that the doctor had told her she wouldn’t be seeing her sister face-to-face, but through a two-way mirror.
Dana felt a shiver of apprehension as they entered the building. Even though this hospital was a brighter and cheerier place than the one Darcy had previously been in, it still gave her a closed-in feeling. She tightly gripped Mac’s hand. He gave her an answering squeeze.
Abby was waiting for them. She smiled warmly. “I realize this is difficult for you.” She touched Dana’s arm. “But I think you need to see something.”
“Did something happen to Darcy?” Dana asked.
“More like Darcy’s taking matters into her own hands.” She opened a door. “This is a two-way mirror here, so she can’t see you.”
Dana blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the dim light.
The room was painted a sunny yellow, with a table and two chairs set in one corner. One chair was occupied by a nurse’s aide, who watched Darcy.
Dana gasped in shock. Dana wanted to cry when she saw the deep gouges marring one of Darcy’s cheeks from her brow bone to her chin. The wounds were angry looking. The way Darcy always seemed to be.
Thanks to an intercom system, she could hear Darcy humming under her breath as she walked around the room. She held a hairbrush in one hand, slowly running it through her hair. Th
e smile on her lips was like the expression in her eyes—vacant.
“What happened to her?” Dana asked, stunned by the change in her sister.
“Darcy was responding very well to a new medication we were trying. Unfortunately, she experienced a bad episode a few nights ago,” the doctor said quietly. “She somehow heard about your marriage. She started screaming that Dana would no longer have her face because she was going to destroy it. Before anyone realized what she was doing, she’d clawed at her face.”
“Couldn’t surgery eventually correct the scars?” she whispered.
“They’re much too deep. Actually, sad as it sounds, she’s been much calmer since then.” Abby hesitated. “I know you’re still worried that your sister’s condition is hereditary. I’d like to assure you it’s not. I’m sure you’ve heard of the term ‘bad seed.’ Unfortunately, your sister seems to be one of those bad seeds. Darcy doesn’t recognize any difference between bad and good. She has no conscience. I’d say you received enough conscience for both of you. I can promise you that she will always receive the best of care here. With the emotional problems she has, she will never be able to leave,” she added quietly.
Dana took one last look at her sister.
“I guess you’re right. She’s calmer now because she believes she destroyed my face.”
Mac understood Dana’s silence as they returned home. Sensing she needed some time alone, he took Duffy for a long walk. When he returned, he found Dana outside on the patio curled up in one of the chairs.
The smile she gave him eased his mind. He wasted no time walking over and kissing her. She lifted her arms and looped them around his neck.
“We do have one thing to thank Darcy for,” she said.
He was surprised by her statement. “The woman put you through hell and you’re thankful? Want to run that by me again?”
She fingercombed his hair away from his forehead. “Because of her, I had to find someone to help me. Because of her, I found you. I am so grateful I have you.”
Mac gathered her up in his arms and swung around, sitting in the chair and settling her in his lap. She automatically rested her head against his shoulder with her face buried against his neck.
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